Watch the recording from the webinar below!
The health of the Great Lakes region’s natural environment is intricately connected to the vitality of the regional economy. All sectors play a role in ensuring healthy habitats to safeguard biodiversity and prevent habitat and species loss. With climate change and human activity threatening our natural world, businesses can contribute to environmental protection by helping enhance natural systems and preventing biodiversity loss.
As part of CGLR’s monthly Business & Sustainability webinar series, we looked at examples of what company commitment to biodiversity can look like and spoke with Bruce Power to learn about their efforts. For example, for nearly a decade they have provided financial and technical support resources to the restoration of Baie du doré wetland through the removal of Phragmite.
Bruce Power is located on the shores of Lake Huron in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Territory and the unique Huron Fringe coastal environment on one of the world’s largest sources of fresh water. Its 930-hectare site is home to a naturally diverse environment that contains over 500 species of plants and wildlife. Recognizing the direct and indirect impacts and dependence on the surrounding natural environment in its daily operations and supply chain, Bruce Power released its Biodiversity Policy in early 2024. The Policy outlines 10 commitments including “to work in collaboration with non-governmental organization and Indigenous communities on invasive species management.”
During this webinar, we heard more about Bruce Power’s new biodiversity policy, their actions to support biodiversity protection, and the successes realized out of environmental partnerships, including strengthening their Sustainability Program and recognition in the Investment community.
Speaker:
Emily Johnston, Senior Strategist, Business Strategy, Bruce Power
Emily Johnston is a Senior Strategist for Bruce Power’s Environment & Sustainability Department, with a Master’s in Environment & Sustainability and over 15 years in the nuclear industry.
She led the company’s Sustainability transition from qualitative to quantitative in 2020, and currently is responsible for Indigenous Nation and Community engagement related to the Bruce C Project, a project that will use the Impact Assessment process to explore the feasibility of adding up to 4800 MW of nuclear capacity to the Bruce site.
Moderator:
Lora Shrake, Senior Program Director, Business and Sustainability, Council of the Great Lakes Region
Lora Shrake is the Senior Program Director, Business and Sustainability for the Council of the Great Lakes Region (CGLR), where she is working with a growing network of business leaders to connect across sustainability issues and support the advancement of cross-sector solutions. Some of the programmatic areas include circular economy, water stewardship, and climate change and decarbonization.
She also facilitates CGLR’s monthly business and sustainability webinar series, providing a platform for knowledge sharing and amplifying regional best practice.
About Bruce Power:
Bruce Power is a Canadian-owned partnership of TC Energy, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement Systems (OMERS), the Power Workers’ Union and The Society of United Professionals. A majority of our employees are also owners of the business.
Established in 2001, Bruce Power is Canada’s only private sector nuclear generator, annually producing 30 percent of Ontario’s power.
To learn more about Bruce Power check out www.brucepower.com.
